Let's unpack: Emmy nominations 2026
Life without a single Industry nomination.
I had a realization this morning. Industry is going the way of Halt and Catch Fire. Or even The Wire. It’ll obviously be cemented as what I think is one of the best shows of the 2020s, but might never actually get the recognition it deserves from the Television Academy. And we, as Industry stans, just have to accept that sometimes (…often, actually), good taste is not rewarded or recognized. Who knows why it can’t break through—is it a viewership issue, the fact that it’s a London-based production, made by young people, or that it’s a show that twists, pokes, and prods at respectability politics. It does show a disconnect between the Emmy voters and the Television Critics Association Awards, though, where Industry did extremely well.
As I wore my Industry merch hat around Seattle over a mini vacation weekend, I realized anyone pointing it out and asking me about it had an automatic connection with me, an easy way to distinguish someone who knows good TV. Industry will always smash at the TV Scholar Awards, and that will have to be enough for us! The Wire only ever got two Emmys and they weren’t even from the main categories—and that’s a show cemented in the canon of great television, so don’t worry. History will remember us! Plus, there’s always season five. Maybe we just need to be even louder…
Anyway, I immediately ran to my laptop with my morning coffee and read the nominations closely, let’s get into my 2,000 words worth of thoughts. I’m paywalling this because my thoughts are spicy, but hey, what a wonderful time to decide to subscribe and support my work as a full-time TV critic! I know Substack writers say this all the time in this weird industry landscape but I am 100% serious when I say I would need a day job again if it weren’t for the folks who are paid subscribers to this newsletter.
Drama
